37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. John 18:37
I can still remember my Junior year of high school. It was the moment when the pressure of what will you do with your life kicked in. I had to take the ACT test. I needed to decide what was next for me. There were many options. The Army said, “be all you can be in the army.” The Vocational program said, “You would be great in a trade.” College cried out, “We can prepare you for anything in life.” Then there was my old nature which pulled at me every day with the same theme, “Do what you want to do.”
Thankfully, there was one more voice speaking to me. The voice was God’s voice that kept saying, “I have a purpose for your life.”
In John 18 we read of no less than 5 individuals who found themselves in a place where they had to make decisions that all tied to purpose:
- Judas made a decision to betray Jesus fulfilling the purpose of being God’s betrayer.
- Peter made a decision to both cut off the servants ear and to deny the Lord three times in the same night.
- Both the sitting High Priest and the real High Priest made a decision to both trump up charges against Jesus that would lead to His death.
- Pilate made a decision to give into the will of the corrupt crowd.
Each of these people made decisions that affected their lives. Only Peter recovered from his wrong decision. The reason he was able to recover was because he realized his purpose.
Question: Are you struggling with your purpose or maybe you are trying to guide someone who is struggling with purpose?
If your answer is “Yes,” I would encourage you to look at the example of Jesus.
Jesus clearly understood the very purpose for which He came to the earth. He was disciplined to stay focused on the purpose. He was mindful of the weight of all He was purposed to do. He fulfilled His purpose knowing that He was birthing and building a kingdom.
Each person must decide, what is my purpose. In the decision process, we must understand there are only two purposes in life:
- God’s purposes.
- Our own self purposes fulled by hell.
I pray that you take the time to understand the implications of both.